October 2010 Newsletter

Transcription

1 October 2010 Newsletter Leader in Blues Harmonica Education WHAT'S NEW! National Harmonica League Weekend Festival - Bristol, UK 10/28-31 On my way to Steve Baker s event in Germany I ll be swinging by NHL s event to say hello and teach some short classes. If you live in the UK swing by and say hello. For more information visit Steve Baker s Harmonica Masters Workshop - Trossingen, Germany 11/3-7 I ll be teaching classes on mastering bending and tongue blocking, our two most important techniques on the harmonica, at this year s Harmonica Masters Workshop. Other instructors include Steve Baker, Joe Filisko and Tollak Ollestad. Included in this event are workshops, concerts, and a tour of the German Harmonica & Accordion Museum as well as the Hohner Factory. This is an amazing experience, no matter what your skill level. For more information visit The German Harmonica and Accordion Museum Needs Your Help! The last standing, and now newly restored, portion of the Hohner factory is the new proposed site for the German Harmonica and Accordion Museum. Some of you are familiar with this museum through my documentary at BluesHarmonica.com. They need all of our support to make it happen. If you would like to donate please visit museum.de/ and them to donate. BLUESHARMONICA.COM - WHAT'S NEW! King/Queen of the Chug! Original Solo Blues Harmonica Instrumental Contest presented by BluesHarmonica.com and Hohner Harmonicas - This is your chance to apply all of the great skills you ve developed studying the Solo Harmonica lessons on the site. Think of this as your student concert! Participants of the contest will receive critique from each of the judges, which are today s leading players and educators in this style: Joe Filisko, Tom Ball, Peter Madcat Ruth and myself. You can submit your original recording (one per subscriber) now through November 15th. Judging will take place from November 15th through December 1st. Winners will be announced December 5th. Good luck and have fun!!! Judging Criteria: * Groove - Chugging is all about rhythm/groove... give us something to tap our feet to! 1

2 * Composition - How catchy is the main hook or head in your composition? If we can t stop humming it after we listen, you did a great job! We re also listening for creativity/originality. * Execution - This is the technical side of your performance: your tone, rhythm, control of technique (bends played in tune, etc.). Show us you know how to use textures on the harmonica (chords, two- note combinations, shakes, slaps, octaves, pulls, flutters, etc.). Your use of chords is essential since chugging is chord- dominated. *Use of equal temperament tuning is discouraged... we don t like listening to chords that are out of tune. Rules: * Use Diatonic Harmonica - Custom tunings, valving, etc. are allowed. You may also use more than one harmonica if you wish (switching harps in multiple positions). * Original instrumental composition (no vocals... whooping is okay! :- ) * Must be acoustic (not played through an amp) and re- creatable live on the bandstand (including no electronic loopers or sound- on- sound devices). * Less than 4 minutes in length. * Must be a current, subscribed member of BluesHarmonica.com for the duration of the competition. Prizes: * 1st Place: One- of- a- kind T- Shirt for the winner that says King/Queen of the Chug ; set of 7 Hohner Marine Band Deluxe Harmonicas in matching case; signed certificate by judges * 2nd Place: Set of 7 Hohner Big River Harmonicas in matching case; signed certificate by judges * 3rd Place: Hohner harmonica case and History of the Blues Harmonica Concert 2xCD Set; signed certificate by judges To read more about the contest and hear what others have uploaded once the competition starts visit of- the- chug New Lessons First Position Study 1 - We have three common positions that we play in as blues harmonica players: 2nd Position, 3rd Position and 1st Position... studied in that order. 1st Position offers great low- end (think Rice Miller's "Trust My Baby") and high- end playing (think Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do"). In this lesson you'll learn how to navigate the lower four holes of 1st Position. 1st Position Study 2 - In this lesson you'll learn how to navigate the upper four holes of the harmonica in 1st Position. This is also your first study song to use blow bending... each chorus progressively working your blow bend skills. 1st Position Study 3 - In this lesson you'll learn how to navigate the entire range of the harmonica in 1st Position. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! Minor Playing - Harmonica players will not commonly choose to play in minor because there's not much historic precedence of our instrument doing this... in other words it's very rare and there's not much out there for us to copy. It is common though, when playing with other musicians, for a song to be called in a minor key. What is the harmonica player to do? What position(s) are best suited for this and how do we approach it? In this study we answer those questions. Alternate Tunings - Join me and Brendan Power for a discussion and examples of different tunings for the diatonic harmonica. Brendan also covers his POWER tuning system. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! 2

3 Performance Training Performance Training: Groove - Join me and a group of some of the most experienced harmonica- backing blues musicians on the planet... Rusty Zinn (guitar), RW Grigsby (bass) and Marty Dodson (drums)... for a lesson on Grooves. In this video lesson we cover all of the common grooves you'll run across when playing with other blues musicians. View the provided lesson PDF for a list of the grooves we cover and a quick definition. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! New Contributor Videos Beginning student Joe Tartaglia continues his lessons with me and performs his first song on the bandstand at a student concert. Contributor Aki Kumar s latest submission shows behind- the- scenes performance footage of the San Jose Harmonica Masterclass Workshop. Bay Area blues harmonica legend Gary Smith shares his favorite openings, ending and breaks. International touring artist Mark Hummel shows how to build a set list and how to find other like- minded musicians to play with. New Interviews Rob Paparozzi - New Jersey- based front man, singer and harmonica player Rob Paparozzi has been a blues performer since Rob has worked with a remarkably diverse list of major artists including B.B. King, Dr. John, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Carole King, Roberta Flack, Culture Club, Cyndi Lauper, Randy Newman, Jimmy McGriff and James Galway. Rob had been touring the world with the Original Blues Brothers Band, featuring guitar legend Steve Cropper and special guest Eddie Floyd. Since 2005 Rob has been the frontman for the Legendary "Blood Sweat and Tears." Rob s own band The Hudson River Rats works the greater New York/New Jersey area as well as international touring, and features Ed Alstrom, John Korba, Chris Eminizer, Bernard Purdie, George Naha and Bailey Gee. Rob brings a wide range of playing skill sets for both the diatonic and chromatic harmonicas. His session work with a wide array of musicians and musical styles makes this interview both entertaining (lots of stories) and educational (valuable insight). This interview was held in August of PT Gazell - First picking up the instrument in his late teens, the Wisconsin- born, self- taught player PT Gazell honed his craft by taking on all manner of musical styles including bluegrass, folk and pop. PT found his way to Lexington, Kentucky in the mid- seventies. At the time Lexington was a hotbed of young bluegrass musicians and PT fell right in with the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Bella Fleck and others. While in Lexington, PT recorded his first album for Sugar Hill Records titled Pace Yourself. PT was the first harmonica player, and the second artist, to be honored with a recording contract with famed Sugar Hill Records. PT soon became a sought- after side man and session player for some of Nashville's biggest stars and spent the next part of his career playing and recording all over the world along side the stars of the day. As exciting and fun as that period was, he also began to get somewhat frustrated. Tired by the road and frustrated by the musical limitations presented by the standard diatonic harmonica, Gazell put his instrument down and disappeared for a while. When he finally reemerged it was with a newfound enthusiasm in part created by his introduction to valved harmonicas. Using self- valved harps, Gazell's music literally soared to new heights as this new approach allowed him access to musical possibilities hidden on standard diatonic harmonicas. And PT came out swinging... his first recording using the valved diatonic is a masterful swing record entitled Swingin' Easy, Hittin' Hard released in Gazell's playing on this record begs comparisons to jazz greats Benny Goodman and Ben Webster. The record spurred a 3

4 brand new interest in PT and soon he was back on the road, only this time fronting various combinations of jazz and swing musicians. Critics and fans alike hailed Gazell's return to live performing and Swingin' Easy, Hittin' Hard quickly became a favorite at NPR stations across the United States. In 2008 Gazell and New Zealand chromatic harmonica wizard Brendan Power teamed up for the CD Back To Back. This CD features standards and jazz classics reinterpreted by two of the world's most gifted harmonica instrumentalists. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! New Equipment Lessons Interview with Amp Tech Dale Laslie - Join me for an interview with leading harmonica repairman, customizer and manufacturer Dale Leslie, founder and CEO of DJL Vintage Audio and designer of the MegaTone Amp line. In this interview Dale defines the role of each element in the tone chain and discusses how these can be changed to maximize their potential for the harp. Co- designer Mike Wezolowski of the MegaTone WEZO series also shares with us the story of the building of this amp. Interview with Tuning Table Inventor Rick Trankle - Join me for an interview with the inventor of the Tuning Table. In this video Rick shares with us the reasons for its invention and how to use this tool. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! Bill Bucko Interview, Hohner Diatonic Service Tech - Join me for an informative interview with Bill Bucko, the diatonic harmonica service technician for Hohner Harmonicas. In this interview we cover what a normal day at the Hohner Service Center looks like, common repairs and how to care for your diatonic harmonicas. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! Sissy Jones Interview, Hohner Chromatic Service Tech - Join me for an informative interview with Sissy Jones, the chromatic harmonica service technician for Hohner Harmonicas. In this interview we cover what a normal day at the Hohner Service Center looks like, common repairs, how to care for your chromatic harmonica and how to deal with sticky slides and wind savers. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! Interview with Harp Mic Tech Greg Heumann - Join me for an interview with harp mic repairman, customizer and manufacturer Greg Heumann. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! Interview with Harp Mic Tech Dennis Oellig - Join me for an interview with harp mic repairman and customizer Dennis Oellig. This lesson is not up as of yet... coming soon! Complete Lesson List Visit list.com for a complete listing of lessons on the website... there are now over 1,200 lesson videos! 4

5 MONTHLY INTERNET FIND Comb Materials Test I participated in a panel at SPAH (spah.org) that tested whether you could hear a difference between comb materials used on a harmonica. This was administered by Brendan Power and Vern Smith. Do you think the comb material of a harmonica makes a difference? Listen for yourself at power.com/ (go to the bottom of the left side bar and click on SPAH Comb Test 2010). YouTube Joe Filisko & Eric Noden Steve Baker RJ Mischo PT Gazell Brandon Bailey jgk Little Walter HarmonicaSessions.com Reminder Check out the current free articles by Kinya Pollard, Winslow Yerxa, Fritz Hasenpusch and me at Blues Revue Magazine Reminder Check out my current article Right on the Number in Blues Revue Magazine. TRANSCRIPTION OF THE MONTH A student recently asked me to TAB out Canned Heat s version of Help Me. I thought it was a fun song and a great example of harmonica playing (Alan Wilson) in that era, so I decided to share it with all of you. The transcription can be found at the end of this newsletter, pages 8 through 10. Opening Solo - ABC Chorus Form Wilson was a pucker player so you re not going to have to work on any tongue- block exclusive techniques here. The triplets played on the IV7 Chord can be articulated with TA, KA, TA- KA or with your throat, like in a tremolo (though with much more of a pop from your throat). Solo 1, Chorus 1 - A A1 B Chorus Form The triplets used on the opening 4 draws (with a little 5 draw to 5

6 make them sound dirty) are performed with the throat... again, like an exaggerated throat tremolo. The effect you hear on the 3 for the V7 Chord (measure 9) and beyond is again that exaggerated throat tremolo... but because he s in a bend, it causes the note to waver in pitch, creating a vibrato (tremolo changes volume, vibrato changes pitch). It can be challenging to use a tremolo/vibrato on a bent note. When new players try this, their bend commonly releases as soon as they start their tremolo/vibrato... it will take some time to get used to, but you ll get it! Solo 1, Chorus 2 - ABC Chorus Form Again he works his tremolo big time... very powerful. Solo 2 - ABC Chorus Form Alan uses this classic Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II) lick to great effect in the opening of the solo. The basic lick is For the advanced players out there if you play the first 4 draw slightly bent (a quartertone) this lick will sound even bluesier. What to Tell the Band Key: F# Groove: Help Me Start: From the I (I Chord) Drums: Use snare and hi- hat only, with brushes RECOMMENDED LISTENING Here are the newest blues harmonica releases worth checking out... Tip of the Top, Rock Tonight - Aki Kumar s second release! 37e2f8c53451 Mitch Kashmar, 100 Miles to Go - One of my favorite releases of all time is now on CD. The song Horn of Plenty with Mitch and William Clarke trading off is worth the price of the CD alone! 58&osCsid=3d17490c660ced3fb68437e2f8c53451 In the past you had to get Milwaukee harp legend Jim Liban s material from him directly. His recordings are now available from and are 110% worth the money. Here are his three titles available: Jim Liban, Hot Tongue and Cold Shoulder 17&osCsid=3d17490c660ced3fb68437e2f8c53451 Jim Liban, Blues for Shut Ins 37e2f8c53451 Jim Liban, Live at Romies 37e2f8c

7 Paul Butterfield, Rockpalast (Sept 15th, 1978) - Live performance in Europe 37e2f8c53451 Junior Wells & The Aces, Live in Boston 1966 Killer material recorded right after his historic Hoodoo Man release in e2f8c53451 Big Walter Horton, Blues Harmonica Giant (3CD Set) - Tons of early recordings as well sideman work. Bob Corritore & Friends, Harmonica Blues - Loads of great musicians on this release. William Clarke, Double Dealin w/junior Watson Only available through CD baby at the moment ( More to come in future issues Best Regards, David Barrett The Future of Blues Harmonica Education IS HERE! President, Harmonica Masterclass Co. "Leader in Blues Harmonica Education" Founder/Director, School of the Blues Author, Mel Bay Publications & Blues Revue Magazine & Thanks to Diane Smith for proofreading!

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